Winchester 94 made for Sears/ JC Higgins

Wehrmacht_45

I have a chance to pick up a Winchester 94 in 30-30 that was made for Sears under the JC Higgins label. I know the collectibility of these is much lower to almost non existent compared to Winchester stamped guns. That I do not care about. I am looking for a hunting and shooting lever gun.

What I want to know is if there are any changes that were made to these as far as parts go, like there were on the Sears shotguns(1200,1400) which had a differently machined stock and reciever.

Also were any corners cut in production? I assume these are post 64 guns, but do not know for sure as I am not a big lever gun buff.

As

lcdrdanr

I do not have a Sears Lever Gun and I suspect even if I did there could be variances between different models or even years of manufacture.
I do have a Sears Model 53 Bolt Action made by Winchester and it is identical to a Model 70 in every respect I have worked on to date. I also have a Sears Model 200 Shotgun which is supposed to be the same as a Winchester Model 1200 but it has an obvious difference in the shape of the receiver where it mates to the stock.
I have noticed no difference in function, reliability or durability with any of my "store brand" bolt actions and pump guns, I also have several Sears models manufactured by Marlin but I do not have any first hand experience with lever guns. In fact, I consider a couple of my Sears brand guns to be superior in fit and finish to any comparably priced firearm of current manufacture.
I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a Sears Model 54 by Winchester or the Sears Model lever action made by Marlin and identical to the 336 if the price were right.
Dan R

Dan R

BUCKAWHO

Hi...I believe that Sears sold rifles made by Winchester under the Ted Williams name, or just the Sears name. I believe that JC Higgins rifles made by Winchester were sold by Montgomery Ward. The same applies to scopes made by Weaver. BT

badsbsnf81

JC Higgins and Ted Williams were store brands for for Sears.

Western Field was a store brand for Montgomery Ward.

Foremost was a store brand for JC Penny

Revelation was a store brand for Western Auto

The main differences from the normal maker's product was usually in finish and/or wood. T

BigLoop22

Wehrmacht_45,

I think the biggest differences between the Sears & the Winchester-branded guns is basically cosmetic. The most noticeable thing about the Sears rifle is usually the oddball barrel band & forend wood arrangement: a mixture of carbine & rifle parts, but not exactly like a regular Winchester's parts. I believe everything else is standard Winchester.

Bert H.

Can you post (or send me) pictures of your J.C. Higgins marked gun? I would like to see the left side of the receiver frame.

Wehrmacht_45

Well the wood on the gun is kind of beat so I was thinking of getting a replacement set if I buy it.

The fact is I cant buy a Winchester 94 for 225 bucks, but if the wood wont cross over, then I will most likely pass.

There are a couple Sears marked Winchester 94's on the auction side and are in similar configuration to the one I am looking at. It does look as if the barrel bands and perhaps fore end are different. I wonder if I can switch out those parts for the standard ones.

Bert H.

OK, I looked at three of them on the auction side... all of them were Post-63 manufactured guns, the forend stocks and end caps are significantly different than a traditional Winchester Model 94, the barrel is either longer, or the magazine tube is shorter than a Model 94, and the sights are different. Oddly, all three of them were drilled & tapped for both a receiver peep sight and a side mount scope.